To say I was deeply nervous going into this episode would be one hell of an understatement. The crazy intense promo alone had me worried and wondering just what all they’d put Morgan through, and then of course, I was also on the edge of my seat wondering about how the team would react to one of their own being taken (again – the team seems to go through this on a disturbingly regular basis).
There was also the fact that Morgan was taken just as his girlfriend Savannah prepared to share some big news with him. That was another mystery I was anxious to find out about (despite having a pretty good idea of what that mystery was).
Fortunately, this episode answered most of those questions to my satisfaction. We still don’t know all the details of why Morgan was taken, but we did get a few tantalizing and intriguing hints to keep us curious. There were also some moving team-related moments throughout that those of us who love the close bonds between the characters could appreciate, and we also got some very happy resolution on the Morgan/Savannah front.
This episode also gave us some fascinating glimpses into Morgan’s psyche, and we learned a tiny bit more about his past in the process. In general, “Derek” was a good mix of a character study, intense action, teamwork, and the special friendships these people share.
The Case:
This is the toughest part of the episode to sort out and summarize, because: a) like the Dirty Dozen storyline, it’s an ongoing one, leaving us with lots of questions, and b) it’s…really complicated and strange. Like, seriously, it makes everything with the Dirty Dozen sound like a breeze.
But let’s try and unpack this anyway. As the episode starts, we see a car driving to a secluded location (never a good sign on this show). Some men pull a big box out of the back, bring it into a lone house, and stand it upright. They pry the box open, only to reveal…Morgan. Yikes. Turns out not only was he shoved into some makeshift coffin, but he’s also on some sort of makeshift cross. His abductors place electrodes on his chest to monitor his heart rate. They’re a little miffed that he seems totally unfazed by their situation – he’s trying to disassociate from the pain he’s about to go through, and his inability to react to their creepy behavior seems to be sucking some of the fun out of the game for them.
Not that this doesn’t stop these people trying their best to break him down, of course. Morgan’s beaten all over his chest and stomach, one man tries to heat up a knife in a fireplace, and another pours white phosphorous onto Morgan’s chest to make it burn. Still, Morgan stands strong through it all…until the cuffs come off and the effects of the phosphorous starts to kick in, that is. At that point, Morgan manages to get the jump on this gang, leading to a massive shootout which leaves virtually almost every gang member dead, and him struggling to survive and get himself out of this nightmare.
While all of this craziness with Morgan is going on, the team, obviously, is doing their own frantic search to rescue their friend and teammate. Initially, Reid theorizes Morgan’s kidnapping might be tied to the team’s recent takedown of the Dirty Dozen. This was my initial assumption as well.
However, as the team learns more about the coordinated nature of the attack, as well as the satellite encryption in regards to the cell phone, they start to believe that this might part of something much bigger. Evidence shows these kidnappers have been planning this attack for weeks, perhaps even months, so they’re clearly not your average abductors.
And hoo boy, they’re not kidding with that theory. An investigation of Savannah and Morgan’s home internet activity leads Garcia to discover that someone’s been tracking them…and whomever their tracker is, they’re part of the CIA, or claim to be! Bwuh? Needless to say, that news has Savannah rather spooked – what on earth would the CIA want with Morgan?
Back at the house, Morgan discovers a tattoo on one of his kidnappers. Said kidnapper is also (barely) alive, and now the tables are turned as Morgan demands answers from him. The man gives Morgan a name and a serial number, and also confesses that Morgan was “an assignment” (and an expensive one at that, as another gang member implies later on in the episode). Keeping him isolated for twelve hours was their goal, and then some other men would come along and finish the job (and God only knows what that would’ve involved). These men are freelance contractors who do work for the highest bidder. They’re basically organized hit men. The team is also comprised of six men, and are mostly foreign. Hm.
Back at the BAU, thanks to Garcia’s internet sleuthing, the team also learns more about that kidnapper’s tattoo. The initials written on the tattoo indicate the man is supposedly a member of = the British SAS (Special Air Service), a special force that helped create what we now know as enhanced interrogation techniques. So that explains why these unsubs are so good at torturing the hell out of Morgan, but it still leaves us in the dark as to why they’ve tortured and kidnapped him in the first place. They obviously wanted to get information of some sort on him…but what?
Thing is, though, that the SAS is a very secretive organization, and as a result, its members don’t have tattoos highlighting their SAS membership. The name and number the man gave Morgan doesn’t connect to an actual rank, either. It turns out tattoo man was dishonorably discharged from the SAS for not being able to cut it in training. Evidently, he didn’t take his discharge very well. Does he somehow blame Morgan for his failure?
Later on, there’s a moment of hope for Morgan when he manages to hear one of the men making a call on a phone. He’s been trying desperately to call out via his own phone to no avail, but this is proof that despite the secluded nature of the area, he can get a signal. After a wrestling match between him and his captor, and a particularly gruesome moment when Morgan pries the SIM card out of the unsub’s body after said unsub had swallowed it, he tries to call out again on the man’s phone.
Problem is, he needs a password to activate the phone. It’s at this point that Morgan finally lets his true emotion and fear show, feeling utterly helpless and frustrated. He doesn’t want to die in this house, but at this point, it’s looking more and more likely that he will.
Fortunately, once he calms down, he discovers that by redialing the number the man had called, he can see the password used, and gets the name of the phone’s owner: John Bradley. At the BAU, Garcia catches the phone’s signal on her computer, and voila! They know where he’s being held, and are able to save him in the end – after John Bradley comes and tries to finish what the other men started with Morgan, that is.
So to sum it up, we’ve got British military connections, the CIA might be involved, this was an ordered abduction, and these people needed to torture and interrogate Morgan for some reason. What on earth could it all mean? Since these people were essentially hired hit men, does that mean this is all still tied to the Dirty Dozen? Did that group’s influence extend even farther than we or the team knew?
Heck, could this case be a way to further connect this show to its upcoming spinoff, which deals with international crimes? Who knows? I do hope it is connected to some other case the team’s been working, or worked in the past, though, ‘cause as of now it just seems to have come out of left field. This isn’t the first time a team member’s had some weird ties to international criminal activity, of course – we’re all familiar with Emily Prentiss’ ties to Doyle, and then there was everything with JJ and her Middle East mission in “200”. Emily’s connections made sense, since she did work for Interpol prior to her BAU days.
But many fans thought JJ’s Middle East adventure was a stretch, to say the very least. The thought of Morgan getting caught up in some sort of international conspiracy as well? I could see that really stretching some people’s ability to suspend disbelief. Maybe it won’t be as complex as all that, though, or maybe the case will wind up making sense in context even if there are international ties involved. Luckily, if the synopsis for the next episode is any indication, we won’t have to wait too much longer for answers.
Of course, this wild case and abduction storyline weren’t the only things Morgan had to contend with this episode. Family issues turned out to be a particularly big deal for him, in more ways than one.
Meet the Morgans:
During the opening sequence of Morgan trying to withstand the brutal torture being inflicted upon him, we see glimpses of three different, significantly more domestic scenes in his life play out.
Scenario 1: Morgan comes home at the end of a long day. Savannah greets him, gently chides him a little for being late, but they kiss shortly thereafter, and she’s ultimately in a good mood.
Morgan is also greeted by two little kids when he gets in the house. And they’re calling him “Daddy”. Cue record scratch noise and wild headshake “Whaaaaaa…?” moment. Yes, it seems this is a glimpse into a future where Morgan is a family man, and he’s celebrating a sweet moment with his children. They’re eager to show him pictures they drew, there’s hugs all around, and it’s a pretty freaking adorable scene all around.
This happy moment has an unsettled cloud hanging over it, however, in the form of a strange man who’s lurking in the background. He’s not saying anything, just giving an odd smile, but Morgan is visibly confused and startled by his presence all the same. But it’ll be a little bit yet before we learn about this background man.
Scenario 2: Morgan comes home again, but this time, there’s no kids running to greet him. Oh, he still has them in this version, but they’re already in bed. Savannah, meanwhile, is not in a welcoming mood. She begins chewing Morgan out, complaining about having to work a long day only to come home and do all the housework and take care of two kids. She also complains about “cooking for seven”, so they must be expecting visitors at some point.
Things only get stranger (and more amusing) when Hotch, Rossi, and JJ also show up. They side with Savannah, telling Morgan, “If you want to make it work, make this work.” Considering Hotch, JJ, and Rossi are parents and are or have been married, I’m guessing that’s part of the reason they showed up in this scenario – an attempt to pass their own wisdom and advice on to Morgan.
Morgan’s a little taken aback by this anger and scolding, though, insisting that he’s trying to do what they’re telling him to do. That background man from the first vision appears here, too, and this time he speaks. All he has to say, however, is that Morgan is “going in the wrong direction”. How very cryptic.
Scenario 3: Morgan comes home, but doesn’t go inside his house. Background man is here again, but this time, he’s sitting on the front steps. He invites Morgan to go somewhere with him, and Morgan is understandably scared by this invitation, given the dangerous circumstances he’s finding himself in in the real world at the moment. Is this guy going to help him cross over into the afterlife? Is Morgan dying?
Doesn’t sound like it. The man assures Morgan they’re going somewhere good, and a moment later, they suddenly find themselves in an open field. Now, if that were me, I’d still be certain I was heading into the afterlife, because everything looks all glowing and there’s sunlight and it’s all warm and peaceful and has that kind of soft filter to it that implies it’s an otherworldly place.
But Morgan has not died, nor has he gone to heaven (which fits well with his character, given his rather antagonistic views on religion). No, the man just wants to bring Morgan here to help him focus in the hopes of saving himself.
And just who is this man trying to help Morgan? None other than his long-deceased father, Hank. Aha. Here we go.
Hello, Father:
“Do you know how many knuckleheads I could’ve put away if I had your training?”
Hank proceeds to walk Morgan through the usual process that he uses in his everyday job at the BAU. Morgan’s the victim, they have to do victimology, thus they have to analyze his life and figure out how and why he got to this point. And they begin with one of the most painful moments of Morgan’s life: November 7th, 1985, also known as the day his dad died.
We’re all familiar with the general outline of the story of his father’s death. Morgan was with his dad, Hank witnessed a robbery and tried to break it up, and he was killed in the process, right in front of a then ten-year-old Morgan. Now, we get the full story of just how Morgan wound up being with his dad that day. Seems he’d gotten sick at school, and his dad was bringing him home. Hank was a little annoyed with his son, because apparently Morgan had faked being sick in the past, so he thought he was doing that here, too.
Regardless, his dad offers to get him something to help him feel better…and that’s when Morgan spots a man trying to steal a woman’s purse. Hank stops to help the woman, and is barely out of the car when the thief strikes him down.
“He doesn’t stop bullets, Pop. And he damn sure doesn’t stop bad men.”
Surprisingly, Morgan’s never been angry about his dad leaving him. Instead, he blames Hank for “making him believe” that he was protected by God because of his badge. He remembers his dad reading him all sorts of stories about knights and heroes when he was a kid (shown in a precious and touching flashback, by the way), and as a result, he grew up believing that heroes could always be safe. Hank’s death was a painful reminder that that wasn’t true. His father’s death led to the beginning of Morgan’s crisis of faith, which was only further exacerbated by the abuse he suffered at the hands of Carl Buford. At this point, we get an unsettling flashback to Morgan’s teen years, and see a glimpse of his fear of his abuser. The kicker? His dad also knew Carl, apparently, and was as fooled by him as everyone else was.
The open field Morgan and Hank are wandering through is a further extension of Morgan’s response to Buford’s abuse. Apparently, Morgan had created this beautiful landscape in his mind, as a place of peace that he could escape to, to hide from the monsters. He still returns to it when times get tough to this day.
As Morgan and his dad discuss Buford, Morgan’s blame turns towards himself, in one of the two most heartwrenching moments of the episode. He tearfully confesses that he thought his dad would be ashamed of him, should be ashamed of him, because he “didn’t fight back” against Buford’s abuse. This is a haunting glimpse into just how much Carl managed to warp and manipulate Morgan’s mind over the years, and it explains a huge part of why he’s always been so passionate about helping other abuse victims over the years.
Hank responds in an equally emotional manner to this revelation, reassuring Morgan that he could never be ashamed of him. He finally gets the chance to tell Morgan that he’s always been proud of him, and he’s seen the incredible strength Morgan’s shown over the years. He’s walking Morgan through these painful moments in his life to show him how strong he’s been, and to remind him that he’s got people to stay alive for, people who care about and love him. Hank lost out on so much time with his family due to his untimely death, and he doesn’t want that to happen to Morgan. Their final parting is one of many moments that had me wiping tears away.
“There’s a moment when you realize you love a woman, and a moment when you realize you’re gonna marry her. I wanna hear about the second one.”
The two men’s conversation isn’t all dark and depressing, however. Hank also helps Morgan realize the nature of the news Savannah wanted to share with him. After Hank asks him to tell a sweet story about Savannah, Morgan reflects on a memory of a time when she sat up with him all night after a rough case, just being a quiet source of comfort and support. That was the moment Morgan realized he wanted to marry her.
And despite Savannah’s inability to cook, the fact that she was so adamant about him bringing food home was her way of sending a notable hint to Morgan. It’s at this point Morgan learns what many viewers predicted after the episode prior to this one: Savannah’s pregnant! Now Hank wants to know, will Morgan “make it home for dinner”?
Thankfully, he does. Morgan may be laid up in a hospital bed at the end of the episode, but that doesn’t stop him from telling Savannah how much he loves and appreciates her, and thanking her for everything she’s done for him. He concludes this heartwarming little speech by asking her to marry him, a proposal which she eagerly accepts. Woohoo! So now Morgan’s got a kid on the way and a fiancée. Not a bad ending for someone who just went through an hour of sheer hell.
The Team:
We’re all familiar with how the team’s reacted to one of their own being either held captive or in some sort of danger over the years. We saw it in “200” with JJ, with Hotch in “Nameless, Faceless”, with Reid far too many times to count (but notably with episodes like “Revelations” or “Amplification”), and so on. This episode is the latest addition to that list. Much of the episode’s focus may have been on Morgan and his struggle to survive, but the moments we did get with the team were touching, subtle examples of how they still do their job in these moments, as well as how much they care about Morgan.
Hotch, of course, is take charge as always, seeing to it that his entire team is kept safe with the protective detail and also keeping the investigation moving as quickly as possible. Rossi has a nice moment with Savannah where he tries to keep her calm and talk to her about everything that’s going on.
JJ stays entirely businesslike to avoid giving in to her panic, and helps make some of the more important discoveries of the case. She’s the one who does a canvass of Morgan and Savannah’s neighborhood to find out if they were being stalked (they weren’t). She stays with a nervous Garcia and Savannah for a time. She learns about the kidnappers’ hit man ties thanks to a mysterious contact of hers by the name of Bob (whom I’m now rather curious to learn more about).
And she’s also one of the first ones into the house at the end, immediately helping to tend to Morgan. Despite her wary reaction to seeing all the torture tools in the house, she barrels straight ahead and keeps the focus on helping her friend. This speaks well to JJ’s own strength, and is a nice little parallel to Morgan’s struggle to survive his own ordeal.
Of all the team members, however, the ones who’ve remained the absolute closest to Morgan over the years have been Garcia and Reid. This episode stays true to that fact by focusing heavily on the connections between all three of them throughout.
For much of the episode, Garcia actually remains remarkably composed. She throws all her focus into her usual job of looking things up online, and is instrumental in making some of the biggest discoveries regarding the case, as well as catching the phone signal that helps the team find out where Morgan’s being held.
But of course, we all know how much Garcia frets over her “band of superheroes”, and are especially familiar with how terrified she gets whenever Morgan does something risky or finds himself in extreme danger (“Mayhem”, anyone?). Her façade finally slips at one point, as she sits alone at the round table, reassuring herself over and over and over again that “he’ll be okay. He’s going to be okay.” It’s a heartbreaking moment and it makes me want to hug her.
(Side note: can we also talk for a moment about the look Reid gives Garcia before he heads out with the team, his expression of, “Don’t worry. We’ll bring him home.”? Such a touching reassurance on Reid’s part, and a sweet way for him to acknowledge the fact that he knows just what Morgan means to her.)
We also get a sweet glimpse into how Morgan truly sees Garcia this episode, too, when she appears to him in one of his many visions as a literal angel. She’s even sporting an actual halo. Garcia has always been a deep source of comfort for Morgan in stressful times, and it’s lovely to see proof of that fact here. The field even gets that much brighter with her presence. We also see Morgan turning to her for help with the case, and they have a rapid-fire back and forth that highlights the seamless way they communicate with each other.
And of course, at the end, she is right there by his bedside at the hospital, sleeping in a chair next to Savannah. It would’ve been really sweet to see her and Morgan hug when he woke up, maybe hear them say a few things to each other, but her kiss and tearful smile certainly spoke volumes all the same.
“Good thing you know someone with a PhD in chemistry.”
Then there’s Reid. This season has already highlighted the brotherly bond between him and Morgan a couple times in notable ways. There’s the lighter side of their friendship that we got to see in “The Witness”, with them continuing to challenge each other in their never-ending prank war. And then there’s the serious, emotional side that we saw in “Entropy”, when Morgan helped Reid on the case, and when the two men shared a hug as Morgan tried to tell Reid how much he loved him.
This episode leans more towards the “Entropy” side of things. It’s Reid who’s especially anxious throughout. It’s Reid who’s in Morgan’s mind when he’s trying to tend to his burn wound, having remembered a lecture Reid gave about copper sulfate once. When Morgan asks his dad if he’ll “ever see him again”, he’s specifically referring to Reid (all together now, everyone: awwwwwwww!).
And it’s Reid who winds up saving Morgan’s life in the end. Before John Bradley can unleash more hell on Morgan, Reid manages to sneak into the building and shoot John dead. He doesn’t leave Morgan’s side after that, either, running alongside the stretcher and calling to him as Morgan’s loaded into the ambulance, in the hopes of keeping him awake and alert. Just like Morgan’s done for him so many times over the years. Morgan and Reid’s friendship has always been one of my favorite things about this show, and it was great to see their close bond highlighted so prominently here.
I’m especially thankful for all these wonderful moments of the team helping and supporting Morgan because the second most heartbreaking moment in the episode involved a very tragic vision involving Morgan and the rest of the team. At one point, as Morgan despairs over whether or not he’ll get out of the house alive, he envisions what it’d be like if the team did actually wind up discovering him dead. In that vision, Reid and JJ are the first ones to stumble inside and find him, and the devastated looks on their faces as they realize they were too late say it all.
The vision continues with a scene of the entire team standing at the wall of photos honoring agents who’ve died. They’re gathered around Morgan’s photo, and they’re dressed in black to boot, so either they’ve just come from his funeral or are about to attend it. Morgan looks on from the background, and desperately attempts to tell them all how much they mean to him. But of course, since he’s a ghost, none of them can hear his voice, and one by one, they all silently walk right past him. When Morgan tries to tell Garcia, the last person standing and looking at the photo, to stay with him, her walking away is one of the most crushing moments ever. I’m not even going to lie: this scene brought tears to my eyes.
To make matters worse, the show briefly scares us with the possibility of this vision becoming a reality towards the end of the episode, as Morgan does indeed briefly code in the ambulance. But thanks to any and all deities above, he ultimately survives his ordeal.
Whew! So. Got all that, everyone? To say this was an intense episode would be quite the understatement, but hopefully it was a good one for viewers overall. There were a few minor nitpicks I had: I would’ve liked to see a little more of the team’s input throughout, and I also would’ve had Morgan’s escape from his captors play out in a less “action movie”-esque sort of manner. I’d also have picked a less wild reason for his captivity, or would’ve better connected it to some past situation he was involved in so it made a little more sense, even if we didn’t get all the answers right away.
But overall, I did enjoy this episode. The team moments we did see were good, the highlighting of Morgan’s friendship with Garcia and Reid was lovely, and Shemar Moore and Danny Glover played off each other fantastically. They brought just the right amount of emotion and sentimental interaction to their scenes. I also like how the show addressed a lot of the issues Morgan’s struggled with over the years, and felt the flashbacks gave us a better look into why those moments affected Morgan so.
This episode was also directed by Thomas Gibson, and he did well on that front throughout. The hazy, wide open nature of the field Morgan and his dad walked through added to the ethereal, surreal nature of those scenes, and were a perfect contrast to the dark, claustrophobic atmosphere of the house where Morgan was trapped. He also did a good job of keeping the pace brisk throughout, which fit well with the powerful intensity and drama of the situation. All in all, I’d say the episode was a success, and one of the best Morgan-centric episodes in the show’s run. It’ll be interesting to see how these events affect Morgan and the team going forward.
On that note, the next episode is also going to be the show’s 250th! Time to break out the party hats and drinks, everyone! Looking forward to to discussing that one with all of you.
What did you think of the episode? Were you moved by the emotional moments between Morgan and his dad? Did you like how they touched on some of the most important issues and concerns Morgan’s struggled with over the years? Did you find the team-related moments touching? Are you excited about Morgan being engaged and a father-to-be? What do you think is the deal with this group and their reason for targeting Morgan? Share your thoughts in the comments!
